Don Quixote in the grotesque manner - Lot 18

Don Quixote in the grotesque manner English tapestry - workshop of Francis Poyntz, London 17th century, circa 1675 Part of a hanging of Don Quixote à la Manière des Grotesques, H. 3,17 x L. 1,80 m / H.10ft 5 x W. 5ft 11 Description: On a light blue background, the silhouettes of Don Quixote and Sancho Pança stand out, crossing and recrossing each other on horseback, as if in a sort of dream animated by windmills and giant flowers. The composition is highly original. An elegant border, imitating a frame set on a counter-ground and around which the scrolls of ivy wrap, surrounds the composition. Materials - Condition: Wool warp, wool and silk weft. Bright colors, fading, cuts, accidents. An important document in the history of English tapestry. Related tapestries: The set from which this rare tapestry comes is not a single suite. At present, four different borders, and therefore four different suites, have been identified. : - The border of the tapestry on display: a border in the imitation of a frame around which an ivy stem winds (height of tapestries: 3.17m). - Four pieces from a château in the Sarthe region. - A hanging of five tapestries is preserved at Cawdor Castle in Scotland; the border is decorated with large polychrome acanthus leaf scrolls containing a few flowers and fruit, on a brown or burgundy background (H. 2.69m). - Five pieces presented at an Exhibition: at Château de Pau in 1955 (op.cit.): this is a narrow border with a scroll of acanthus leaves around a thin plant stem. - Galerie Chevalier documentation includes a photo of a fourth border appearing at the top and bottom of the Windmills tapestry in a French private collection (missing borders on the sides). The small amount of border that can be seen in the photos reveals a decoration of horns of plenty with fruit and leaves. - Another suite is said to exist at Packington Hall, Warwickshire (Border?) Provenance : - Rouillac sale, Cheverny, June 2011 - The large armorial tapestry from the same set is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. - Private collection, French château in Sarthe Bibliographical references - W.G. Thomson, 1930, A History of Tapestry from the Earliest Times until the Present Days, p. 366 - The Treasures Houses of Britain, Five Hundred Years of Private Patronage and Art Collecting 1985 Exhibition: at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, n° 132, p. 201 - Entry by Wendy Hefford. - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote de la Mancha, 1605-1615 - Françoise Debaisieux, 1955, Exhibition: Don Quichotte, Pau, Musée des Beaux Arts, May-July 1955, Five tapestries exhibited, two reproduced. - Don Quichotte und Ragotin Zwei komische Helden in Preuben, Exhibition: February 15 to April 25, 2004 Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin.